In Flames -Sounds of A Playground Fading (Upcoming 10th album)
- Thread starter krofius
- Start date
Yeah, I think it's from one person's perspective. It seems like most of us agree. As for the person who said the lack of rhyme is disappointing or whatever, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most, if not a good amount, of IF's songs don't rhyme. Anders writes a lot of non-rhyming lyrics that personally, I find better most of the time. I prefer poetry that doesn't rhyme for the most part.
There's someone in the attic
building a strange machine.
Never really seen him
but I think he works all day
Blinded by the world outside
I stay inside.
I hardly know my name
but it's getting better by time.
I saw something in the mirror.
Someone's watching me.
If I hide in the attic
they will never get to me.
I found some rope on the floor.
I have to build a trap
so I start on my machine.
I am never to be seen.
Thank you, come again
Ok, to me that only looks like one actual 'rhyme'; the very last two lines. The rest either are A) the same word, or B) Don't really rhyme at all, even how he says them. I guess it just puts me off of the song, especially the first verse which just doesn't play nice with my head I guess. I want to like it; I love it's dynamics in contrast with the rest of the album (as with the Jester's Door) but it just doesn't work. Oh well, to each their own.
Also, don't mean to offend you or anyone else who likes this song, just sharing my opinion
I agree most IF lyrics don't rhyme, but most IF songs don't sound like The Attic. I guess that's why it is so pronounced to me. Oh well.
Ok, I can see where you're coming from then. It doesn't throw me off at all, but I can understand that with a song that sounds and feels like The Attic, non-rhyming can be weird.
As far as the rhyming goes, I usually look at Lyrics like poetry, and there's a huge amount of poetry that doesn't rhyme so it doesn't bother me as long as the lyrics fit together well. I'd rather have a song where the lyrics don't rhyme but flow well together than one where everything rhymes, but nothing makes sense.
All For Me have pretty interisting lyrics about this theme, too.
My opinion - world is creating bad machines, self destructive machines and we have to react. They think we don't know. My thoughts
P.S In "Fear is the weakness" we can pretty easily interpret lyrics about this theme, too. Sh*t I guess all lyrics are about this
My opinion - world is creating bad machines, self destructive machines and we have to react. They think we don't know. My thoughts
P.S In "Fear is the weakness" we can pretty easily interpret lyrics about this theme, too. Sh*t
I guess all lyrics are about this
21-only-son
Member
Deveianse
Member
The Attic is not a metaphor at all, the whole album is about how innocence fades, how our childhood memories are in decay as reality caves in.. The Attic part of a House, the House he probably grew up in, he was probably afraid of the attics grim surroundings or the haunting sounds that came out of it. All kids are afraid of the attic... So he writes about a place where somebody hides, where you can find solitary, a person lost himself to the world and so the writer would like to hide somewhere, where better than the attic?
PlainVanilla
Dickhead Jester
Hum...
Yes it is, and this is what you just explained. Anyway, there is not one real meaning of the song. You know Anders...
I won't be trying to decipher the meaning of the song, as it is impossible. After all, Anders could have written some cool sounding lyrics without any real idea behind them.
I'll just say that I think whole album is based on relations on two levels:
1) human race (human-nature, human-ideas...)
2) single person (person-person, person-emotions, person-memories)
I guess some songs could be talking about both levels.
Truth be told, I could be very far away from actual idea Anders had, but that is my perception of lyrics and music on SOAPF.
I'll just say that I think whole album is based on relations on two levels:
1) human race (human-nature, human-ideas...)
2) single person (person-person, person-emotions, person-memories)
I guess some songs could be talking about both levels.
Truth be told, I could be very far away from actual idea Anders had, but that is my perception of lyrics and music on SOAPF.
- Mar 16, 2009
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Anders always has exact meanings of what songs are about, he just writes them in the way so that people can interpret them differently =)
I don't think we're going to get an album with predominantly low growled vocals again, as sad as that is for those of us who feel they showcase the strengths of In Flames' songwriting best. Similarly when I heard this album was to feature an increased presence of clean vocals, a bit of me died... it seemed In Flames were really distancing themselves from what I loved most about them, another nail in the coffin so to speak after ASOP.
I really don't think that's the case with this though. I'm genuinely surprised at how much I'm enjoying it because I can see validity in some people's complaints about it... All For Me could use some more low growls, there could be more substance to The Jester's Door... fuck, Whoracle growls throughout would be welcome from my point of view. But somehow it exceeds all of the post-Clayman albums by virtue of the strength of its melodies.
We have tracks here which sound to my ears like Gyroscope, Artifacts, Swim Colony and Embody The Invisible (I don't mean in any way that they're plagiarising their older stuff, more that it gives me the same kind of thrill to listen to them)... When I listen to Delight and Angers, The Mirror's Truth or Disconnected I never felt this vibe at all, I had to try to like those songs, whereas liking SOAPF, All For Me, Ropes, Enter Tragedy and A New Dawn felt instantly natural. There's a beauty about this record that other recent releases didn't have. Come Clarity came closest and there were genuine "wow" moments on there... but it never felt complete to me, there were songs that weren't up to standard with the best on there.
The "golden" era In Flames albums all felt like complete entities, from Moonshield to Wayfaerer (still think Dead God was more of a bonus track although instrumentally it did fit the album's sound), from Jotun to Whoracle, from Embody The Invisible to The New Word and from Bullet Ride to Another Day they made a complete statement while having ebbs, flows and great individual tracks in there. Sounds of a Playground Fading feels like this as well: it never gets lost. It (ironically) has a sense of purpose about it, an introduction and a conclusion, climaxes and moments of calm...
Yes the band take risks with this record, but I've actually really enjoyed it when In Flames push the boundaries a lot of the time, Dawn of a New Day and Metaphor are my favourite tracks on Reroute... the experiments on this feel far more like them than they do The Chosen Pessimist, but they also feel like they belong within the overall flow of the album. The Jester's Door is a great little breather between two of the heaviest tracks on the album and The Attic is a nice little pause-and-reflect moment in the middle of the album before things re-intensify with the run from Darker Times to Enter Tragedy.
I hope this makes some sense and I'm not just rambling, but I feel we've gotten over the initial high of getting our hands on some new music and some people are now just exploiting the cracks and attacking the album for the same reasons any In Flames record since Clayman has been attacked when, in fact it in my opinion doesn't deserve that at all. And certainly not to the degree that Soundtrack and ASOP get...
I really don't think that's the case with this though. I'm genuinely surprised at how much I'm enjoying it because I can see validity in some people's complaints about it... All For Me could use some more low growls, there could be more substance to The Jester's Door... fuck, Whoracle growls throughout would be welcome from my point of view. But somehow it exceeds all of the post-Clayman albums by virtue of the strength of its melodies.
We have tracks here which sound to my ears like Gyroscope, Artifacts, Swim Colony and Embody The Invisible (I don't mean in any way that they're plagiarising their older stuff, more that it gives me the same kind of thrill to listen to them)... When I listen to Delight and Angers, The Mirror's Truth or Disconnected I never felt this vibe at all, I had to try to like those songs, whereas liking SOAPF, All For Me, Ropes, Enter Tragedy and A New Dawn felt instantly natural. There's a beauty about this record that other recent releases didn't have. Come Clarity came closest and there were genuine "wow" moments on there... but it never felt complete to me, there were songs that weren't up to standard with the best on there.
The "golden" era In Flames albums all felt like complete entities, from Moonshield to Wayfaerer (still think Dead God was more of a bonus track although instrumentally it did fit the album's sound), from Jotun to Whoracle, from Embody The Invisible to The New Word and from Bullet Ride to Another Day they made a complete statement while having ebbs, flows and great individual tracks in there. Sounds of a Playground Fading feels like this as well: it never gets lost. It (ironically) has a sense of purpose about it, an introduction and a conclusion, climaxes and moments of calm...
Yes the band take risks with this record, but I've actually really enjoyed it when In Flames push the boundaries a lot of the time, Dawn of a New Day and Metaphor are my favourite tracks on Reroute... the experiments on this feel far more like them than they do The Chosen Pessimist, but they also feel like they belong within the overall flow of the album. The Jester's Door is a great little breather between two of the heaviest tracks on the album and The Attic is a nice little pause-and-reflect moment in the middle of the album before things re-intensify with the run from Darker Times to Enter Tragedy.
I hope this makes some sense and I'm not just rambling, but I feel we've gotten over the initial high of getting our hands on some new music and some people are now just exploiting the cracks and attacking the album for the same reasons any In Flames record since Clayman has been attacked when, in fact it in my opinion doesn't deserve that at all. And certainly not to the degree that Soundtrack and ASOP get...
I agree with you man! SOAPF really has something... I'm listening it all the time and it's still good. Every time I find something new. Attic and TJD are great pieces when you observe them as a part of the album.
PlainVanilla
Dickhead Jester
I agree. It's not all about whether there are growls ore not, it's the feeling of excitement that you get hearing the songs, and in this album, I've felt it like no other post-clayman album, and even perhaps more than some songs from pre-clayman albums (IMO). Perhaps I think this way because it took them 10 years to get the perfect post-clayman sound they could.
Let me tell you that in pre-clayman albums I like a lot of songs but there A FEW that just make me skip them. On SOAPF there's not a single song I have skipped.
The sound production is really well done, even though people complained about the guitars (When the album was especially produced for drums.) but haters gonna hate.
P.S. Now that there are more voice tracks on each song, maybe Peter, Björn and Daniel might help with some live vocals. At least they could try so that they can take out the layered ones from the shows.
Well in conclusion I think they did a fantastic job with the album and hope they keep up the good work. I announce this thread now officially closed. It's been a pleasure.
PlainVanilla
Dickhead Jester
Hi Everybody I'm a new comer here, I decided to join aboard after reading all of the discussion about the new In Flames album. I've listened to it quite a few times now and my opinions are changing with every spin. I saw that a lot of you guys did not like ASoP; I definately loved it when it came out thinking it was more of a return to the elements that they are known moreso than Come Clarity. I really dislike Come Clarity now days because it's too metalcore-ish. I thought it was an awesome come back when it first came out, but no I rarely even play it and consider it mediocre and don't really like the vibe of the album. Your Bedtime Story is an atrocity and filler IMO, I didn't see the point in that. I was attracted to In Flames circa 2004ish during Soundtrack to Your Escape and thought the video for Quiet Place was epic, so I had to check the band out, bought the album and was amazed. Soundtrack is definately watered down on melody, etc. but I don't think that takes away from it being a good album.
Of course I love their older material, Colony, Clayman (rates below Colony and Whoracle), Whoracle, The Jester Race, Subterranean, and Lunar Strain. Reroute to Remain was a good album as well.
Now Sounds of A Playground Fading at first was a let down. "What the hell"? was my exact thoughts on my first listen throughout. Now I already heard, the tracks that leaked beforehand. The first thing that let me down was, where were the catchy choruses? All For Me sounds very epic and almost Colony-esque and then it turns into random chorus that doesn't seem to fit and not catchy at all. It's growing on me, but it's missing that part. Where the Dead Ship Dwells is growing as well and sounds like a mix of Clouds Connected and The Quiet Place however the chorus by anders again seems to no fitDarker Times is brilliant, perfect song from In Flames and sounds like it would be off of R2R. Liberation was a good song. It was done very well by the band surprisingly turning out to be a good rock song. The sound for the album was more upfront this time around sounding like when they recorded with Nordstrom, Whoracle-Clayman. It almost sounds like this album could come right after Clayman even though it's a bit of departure, but the In Flames elements are there and so is the sound. It makes me wonder now, that Jesper was bringing the band down because Bjorn does a pretty damn good job.
Of course I love their older material, Colony, Clayman (rates below Colony and Whoracle), Whoracle, The Jester Race, Subterranean, and Lunar Strain. Reroute to Remain was a good album as well.
Now Sounds of A Playground Fading at first was a let down. "What the hell"? was my exact thoughts on my first listen throughout. Now I already heard, the tracks that leaked beforehand. The first thing that let me down was, where were the catchy choruses? All For Me sounds very epic and almost Colony-esque and then it turns into random chorus that doesn't seem to fit and not catchy at all. It's growing on me, but it's missing that part. Where the Dead Ship Dwells is growing as well and sounds like a mix of Clouds Connected and The Quiet Place however the chorus by anders again seems to no fitDarker Times is brilliant, perfect song from In Flames and sounds like it would be off of R2R. Liberation was a good song. It was done very well by the band surprisingly turning out to be a good rock song. The sound for the album was more upfront this time around sounding like when they recorded with Nordstrom, Whoracle-Clayman. It almost sounds like this album could come right after Clayman even though it's a bit of departure, but the In Flames elements are there and so is the sound. It makes me wonder now, that Jesper was bringing the band down because Bjorn does a pretty damn good job.
C'mon guys, album is not even released yet!
Should I start n'flame war just to keep things interesting?
Oooh, Krofius... New In Flames are shit!!! Old skull rulez! Kvlt! Damn you emo posers that wanna sing along with Disconnected chorus: "Oh, I feel like shiiiiit"... And you should be feeling like shit!
Now, that should do the job.
But just in case...
@DE4life
Did you notice how awesome is Bottled chorus? Almost as awesome as The Chosen pessimist buildup. Wow, those riffs are really something bro, aren't they? If they recorded it in shitty production it would sound just like The Jester Race...or even better! Not that it matters, 'cuz crowd doesn't move with that boring stuff from TJR or Clayman.
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